I've settled in to life on the farm in the Wairarapa Valley. The main town may be 20 minutes away, but the pub is only a few minutes down the road. The first two weeks have been quite busy, but there's always a good supply of food and beer. It means a lot in the middle of harvest. The burgers at the pub are delicious. One day we started a 2-hour press cycle, went to the pub for a beer, and came back to clean up. I spent a day in the vineyard lifting bins of grapes onto the trailer of an ATV.

The Easter weekend was difficult because even the supermarkets were closed on Sunday. We ate delicious lamb and tried several different wines at the owners' house. There was a good white Bordeaux, an Austrian white, an Arneis, a NZ Pinot Noir, and a Rhone Syrah/Grenache. I visited a beautiful spot called Castle Point, but it rained all day. I touched the water in the Pacific, officially making it three oceans in three months. The three others wanted to see a movie, so we watched "Just Go With It" which is an average Romantic Comedy, but at least I laughed a bit. I tried Pastise, a hard alcohol from Provence that Olivier and Clara bought. It has very strong herbal flavors, but is good in small amounts.

To press the plastic cylindrical tanks of Pinot Noir, we usually scoop out the skins one bucket at a time, but Olivier was determined to find a better way to do it, so we strapped a tank to the forklift using two pallets, two ratcheted straps, a chain, and two planks of wood. It looked very dangerous, but it worked. We found a safer solution for the second one, so hopefully we won't have to use the bucket anymore.

I drove to the town of Martinborough, which is a tiny version of Sonoma. There was even a Ferrari parked on the square. Christine's grandchildren visited the winery and I helped them punch down a tank, which they thought was fun! The first week has been cleaning, hand-bottling, punch downs and processing Pinot Noir, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc. Everybody has been very nice and generous. I get a full meal most days from the cafe, or take out and Christine and Gerhard have both invited us interns over for dinner. My loft above the barrel room is a bit cold and full of bugs, but if I have enough of their beer and wine, I'll be able to sleep through most things. I've been getting along very well with the French couple. When we went into town together, they spent $60 on food and $32 on cheese. It's hard not to laugh. They help me with my French and I help them with English. I'm accustomed to living on a farm by now, and I enjoy thinking about the money when I compare it to South Africa. In a day here, I make a week and a half's salary in Robertson. I'm quite happy with that.

Across an ocean, to another winery

We stayed at a hippie hostel out in the forest in Nature's Valley. We went for a walk to a waterfall, then to a beach for a siesta. The host cooked a good meal of rice with dahl, vegetables and salad. She talked a lot about recycling, saving water, organics, etc. There were bats in our room, but they didn't bother me too much. The next day we went for a good hike over hills, through valleys, to the beach for a siesta again, along rivers, and into town. Lorena counted 11 spiders in their webs 5-7 feet high. When we were leaving the hostel, we found out they charged us for laundry and breakfast, which they did not say before. They never told us the price of the room either. When did hippies get dishonest and greedy. I thought money was evil...We cursed hippies for the rest of the day. The next hostel was much different. It was called Hard Rock, run by a guy who enjoyed my kind of music. There were guitars and posters on the wall, a Jimi Hendrix quote, and a bar with a pool table out back. I met several people from Brazil and Chile who were studying English nearby. I knew I would like the owner when I say his shirt. It said, "No, dude. Seriously. F**k you." We got to Addo Elephant Park in good time and as soon as we drove through the gate, we saw an elephant. It was easy to see lots of animals. We spotted: elephants, red hartebeests, warthogs, a buffalo, zebras, kudu, ostriches, flightless dung beetles, leopard tortoises, a hawk, a snake, a rhinoceros, and a lot of birds. On a game drive, we saw a herd of elephants rolling in the mud and they passed less than 10 feet from the jeep. It was a good last day in Africa. We ended up at a party hostel in Port Elizabeth with a terrible host, but we had a good dinner out. The spicy chicken burger hit the spot and they had live music with a Spanish guitar player. On the way to the airport, a guy was handing out Twix bars that were about to expire, so I had a snack before the flight. The plane to Cape Town was 30 minutes late, but it was no problem. I said goodbye to Lorena and made it to Kuala Lumpur in relative comfort because of my aisle seat in the emergency exit row and no one sitting next to me. The guy in the next seat over was a driller who had worked in Texas, Angola, and Europe. I watched "Hereafter," "Unstoppable," and "The King's Speech." The food was pretty good and I was happy with Malaysia airlines. The flight to Auckland was about 2/3 full, but I still sat next to the creepy, smelly guy. I watched a good movie called "The Way Back" about a group of guys who escaped a gulag in 1941 and walked to India. I managed to sleep a bit thanks to Nyquil. I slept some more on some chairs at Auckland airport and I met a guy from South Africa who wanted to exchange currencies, so we both saved money by not using the currency desk. The plane to Wellington was comfortable with enough leg room and leather seats. The next to me was friendly and we talked for the whole flight. He had been to the San Francisco several times and he was heading to Wellington to help his friend fix up a race car for the next weekend. The Richard Simmons security video was a bit much though. I enjoy Air New Zealand, but sometimes their marketing bothers me. The bus to the railway station also had leather seats, and I enjoyed seeing the city again. I recognized a few places that I had been in 2009. It was a pretty train ride to Carterton where Gerhard picked me up. At the winery he showed me the espresso machine and introduced me to everyone. I felt comfortable immediately as everyone seemed very relaxed and friendly. He was very happy to see the South African brandy I brought him. My loft above the barrel room is pretty basic, but there is plenty of space and a warm, comfortable bed. The shower and kitchen are in the cellar though, so it's a bit of a walk. There were wasps all over the grapes, in my room and in my office, but I guess the people here are used to them. Christine, the owner, let me borrow her car to go into town to buy food and warm clothes. We ate curry and stew that the cook made for us and had a beer after Gerhard and Olivier finished work. Olivier is the other cellar hand. He lives in a small caravan/trailer outside the cellar with his girlfriend. They are from Provence in France and travelled around New Zealand before they started working. His girlfriend, Clara, works at a winery nearby.

Out the door

We had dinner with Roelf and Michelle which was good curry with a couple of wines from Argentina. It was nice to see the bosses drunk and friendly for a change. The next night Alfred and Chantelle (works in the bistro) came over for dinner and I heard some disturbing stories about the people at the winery. I wouldn't be able to live on that farm permanently.

We said our goodbyes and picked up the rental car in Worcester, which was a free upgrade to a Chevy Spark. I felt so special...It got us to Mossel Bay in time to swim in the Indian Ocean, so I was happy. The water was around 68 degrees, so it was pleasant. There were some English guys in our room, so we went out with them to a few good bars. The young people seemed fairly modern, and not as old-fashioned in their way of life, but what I saw may not represent much of South Africa. Segregation was still strong because I saw 99% white people at the bars. I also met two Dutch women who rode an ostrich and were going sky diving the next day. The Garden Route has plenty of adventure activities including the highest bungy bridge in the Southern Hemisphere, about 650 feet high. The hostel was very nice, but unaffordable when I made 100 rand per day and spent 120 rand per night.

The next day, we walked around a little and saw dassies at the ocean (small, furry animals), then drove to the Cango Caves which have cool formations inside, but it was definitely a tourist trap with a cheesy tour. The terrain was semi-desert, like around Robertson. I saw some animals and said, "Is that a horse? No, it's a zebra!" It was grazing with some spring bocks. The hostel in George was also very comfortable. I noticed that half the guests are younger and half are middle-aged to retired-age. It probably has to do with what is affordable here, and they are cleaner and better-equipped than some I stayed at in Australia and New Zealand.

This morning began with real coffee, which is woefully rare here, then we took a couple of nice hikes in Wilderness National Park. It wasn't spectacular, but it was much greener than Robertson and I enjoyed getting out hiking. We stopped at a beach, but it got cloudy and cool around 3pm just like the day before. I suspect that happens most days. The hostel in Knysna was very nice and a roommate is a winemaker from France who just finished the harvest and is travelling like us.